Never go to a tattoo artist if bad luck is following you

𝟭𝟮 | 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵!

"Oh my God, it's so ugly!" I scream, hiding my face behind a pillow that I was holding against my stomach like a shield.

What a brave person I am.

"It's obvious it's ugly. We're watching a horror movie, not a Disney cartoon."

Along with me and Skyler, James and the chocolate bar, whose name I can't remember, have joined.

My memory is pretty bad.

I give James a disdainful look. "I know it's a horror movie. That's why I screamed when you walked into the room."

Skyler laughs, while the chocolate bar raises an arm, inviting me to high-five.

Like I'm going to high-five you after calling me snowman, jerk.

I make an evil grin. "Put that arm down, chocolate bar. You were walking into the room at that moment too. I screamed at the sight of both of you."

Skyler falls to the floor laughing.

She looks like an eel.

When she recovers, she looks at me. "I should invite you over more often. You're amazing."

The two brothers exchange a scared glance. "No!" they shout in chorus.

I smirk at them. "I'll haunt you for the rest of your days."

James leans towards his brother, whispering something I understand perfectly. "She's scarier than this horror movie."

"You're right," replies the chocolate bar.

Seriously, what was his name?

The horror movie they chose, because I would have preferred to continue the conversation with Aunt Sasha and Aunt Wendy about men, is The Conjuring 2.

But what's up with these people and their aversion to cheerful movies where nuns don't pop out of your house's hallways? Why not a sober film like SpongeBob?

They're all three calm, as if watching horror movies doesn't scare them.

I know that inside you are trembling. I know it.

Even without trying, a nun appears in the movie.

I jump in place and clutch the pillow tightly. "Oh my God, a monster! James, I've found your twin. You were separated at birth!"

Skyler spits out her water, and Connor is having convulsions.

Yes, I remembered his name!

I feel something hitting my face, and when it falls to the ground, I see it's a pillow. And that it was thrown by James.

My mouth forms a perfect circle.

I whip around to him. I pretend to roll up my sleeves, since I'm wearing a tank top and can't do it for real, and I aim my hands at his throat, closing one eye to take aim. "I'm going to kill you, failed priest and twin of a nun!" I throw myself at him like a sumo wrestler, grabbing a pillow and hitting him in the face repeatedly.

He grabs another pillow and starts hitting me, and that's how we start a pillow fight, standing on the couch, with just the two of us as the main characters, while his siblings cheer.

"Go girl! Show what only a living snowman can do!" shouts Connor, laughing.

Hearing those words, I stop suddenly and James imitates me, confused by my reaction, and takes the opportunity to catch his breath.

I turn in slow motion towards Connor. Right now I look all rumpled, my hair is messy and in front of my face, and I'm out of breath.

I might look like the girl from The Ring, if it weren't for the hair color.

Apparently, Connor must have thought the same, because as soon as he sees me, he becomes serious.

"Now I'll kill you too!" I yell. I make a move to tackle him, but James hits me from behind with the pillow. Because of him, I lose my balance and crash to the ground.

Connor starts shouting "This is Sparta!" and then throws himself on top of me, not considering that I might get hurt.

James imitates him, and soon Skyler joins in.

I moan in pain. "Get off! I don't have breasts to begin with, and if you guys pile on top of me like this, I'll become flatter than a Ouija board."

They laugh.

Yes, laugh all you want, but I'm not kidding. You're even suffocating me.

"You're flat regardless," James retorts, then starts laughing again.

"Laugh all you want, I'd be hitting you already if Connor weren't between us."

"Happy to be the third wheel," says Connor.

Someone moves, and I'm suffering. "Guys, can you get off now?" I ask pleadingly.

"No, I'm comfortable," replies Skyler.

"Of course you're comfortable, you're on top. I'm down here suffering," I mumble.

And what if I tried to crawl to save myself?

I lift myself onto my forearms as much as possible and start pushing to crawl.

I manage to free myself from the waist up, when the living room door, which we had previously closed to watch the abandoned horror movie, is opened by Paul, who walks into the room as if it were his own home.

Oh, it is his home.

We all turn to look at him, and he, seeing us on the ground, raises an eyebrow and smiles. "Did Brianna open a door and you all fell?"

I gape. "What the—" I stop when I remember he's my boss and not one of his kids. I clear my throat. "Uh, I meant, what a nice person." I give a forced smile.

He doesn't seem to be angry about what I said earlier; in fact, he maintains his smile.

I suspect it's Julie's doing. Oh, love.

Paul resumes speaking. "Dinner is ready."

The little Aisha crawls in through the door.

I jump up from the floor, causing the other three to fall.

I glance back at them and mumble an "oops," then go to the little girl, under the watchful eyes of everyone.

I sit next to her on the floor, and little Aisha hands me a sheet of paper and a marker that were on the table nearby.

She points at the paper and then at me. "Ariel."

I smile at her. "You want me to draw Ariel?" I ask.

She nods, so I start drawing.

Everyone watches the scene in silence, including Julie who has just joined us, probably wondering why we were taking so long.

Julie smiles at me. "She likes you. She's usually shy. Would you mind picking her up and taking her to the kitchen?"

I smile. "No problem."

Paul looks concerned. "Do you know how to hold a baby?"

I shrug. "I often babysit during the winter."

He sighs with relief. "Okay, you can hold her." Then he becomes serious. "But don't you dare open a single door." We all laugh.

I think they'll never forget the cursed door story.

Unless they keep rubbing it in my face.